Young Red Oak with very dry leaves---leaves beginning to fall off

[thebauer]

My young red oak tree leaves are very dry and falling off. The tree was planted by a landscaper 2 years ago. Last year things looked fine--this year not so much. He suggested I feed the tree to boost leaf production, which I have been doing. Large feedings x 3weeks (Miraclegrow) 10 gallons, two scoops per gallon. Also I water the tree 3 x per week. Our summer in Ohio has been very hot and dry.
Any help?

 

[Raintree]

FYI, the more detailed the info the better the replies.

Pics are most helpful.

 

[Raintree]

If you are in heavy clay soil 3x's wk is too much.

Is the whole tree wilted or just thinning, what % leaf drop?

Was the tree untied & basket removed at planting, do you see the root flair?

Any damage to trunk?

Can you post pics?

 

[ATH]

3 waterings per week is not too much for as hot and dry as we have been (espeically if using 10 gallons per watering). I am pretty confident it is not sitting in wet feet. What are you using for water source?

You may be using too much fertilizer. That can add to drought stress.

Do you have a nice mulch ring around the tree (2-3" deep, 4-5' (or more) in diameter, and not against the trunk of the tree)?

How big was the tree? How big was the root ball?

Looking forward to seeing your replies to the other questions posed...

 

[thebauer]

If you are in heavy clay soil 3x's wk is too much.

Is the whole tree wilted or just thinning, what % leaf drop?

Was the tree untied & basket removed at planting, do you see the root flair?

Any damage to trunk?

Can you post pics?

At first it was just wilting on the lower limbs, now the whole tree seems to be involved. The root basket was untied, I do not see the root flair. The trunk appears fine. When I water I usually spray the trunk as far up as I can--does this help/hurt. The leafs are not very big for an oak tree and are very dry to the touch and beginning to curl up and fall. Sorry no pics

 

[thebauer]

3 waterings per week is not too much for as hot and dry as we have been (espeically if using 10 gallons per watering). I am pretty confident it is not sitting in wet feet. What are you using for water source?

You may be using too much fertilizer. That can add to drought stress.

Do you have a nice mulch ring around the tree (2-3" deep, 4-5' (or more) in diameter, and not against the trunk of the tree)?

How big was the tree? How big was the root ball?

Looking forward to seeing your replies to the other questions posed...

Watering, I often let the hose run very slowly for up to 30 minutes. When I feed (x3weeks) I use a sprinking can and use 8-12 gallons of water. The tree is mulched as you describe. The tree is 20 feet +- and 6 inch diameter. This is its second summer--was a really nice confirgured tree. The root ball was probably 3 foot diameter.

Any chance of this tree recovering? (you do have a crystal ball -- right?)

 

[redheadwoodshed]

Don't spray the trunk and stop fertilizing.Pull away the mulch and see if you can see any holes in the ground.It could be voles eating the well watered roots.After checking that out replace the mulch.As long as the tree is alive, there is a chance.

 

[thebauer]

Don't spray the trunk and stop fertilizing.Pull away the mulch and see if you can see any holes in the ground.It could be voles eating the well watered roots.After checking that out replace the mulch.As long as the tree is alive, there is a chance.

I did as you suggested. No evidence of "voles". However, they are present in other areas of my yard but not this time of year. I think my Westies chase em away. We call these "moles" so what is the difference.

Anyway, I will do as you suggest. My gut tells me a combination of drought stress and over feeding resulted in the present condition.

thanks again for your advice.

 

[thebauer]

3 waterings per week is not too much for as hot and dry as we have been (espeically if using 10 gallons per watering). I am pretty confident it is not sitting in wet feet. What are you using for water source?

You may be using too much fertilizer. That can add to drought stress.

Do you have a nice mulch ring around the tree (2-3" deep, 4-5' (or more) in diameter, and not against the trunk of the tree)?

How big was the tree? How big was the root ball?

Looking forward to seeing your replies to the other questions posed...

Water source is city water (actually very good---not softened) I said the rootball was 3 feet, actually probably a little over 4 feet the tree is 6 inch diameter, about 20 feet tall.

Shall I water it very heavy? This AM is used 10 gallons-enough?

 

[Raintree]

The lower leaves dropped first?

Did any of the leaves look like these pics....

oak anthracnose - Bing Images

 

[thebauer]

The lower leaves dropped first?

Did any of the leaves look like these pics....

oak anthracnose - Bing Images

Yes, the lower leaves are dropping first and seem the most dried out. Most of the leaves that have fallen do not have discoloration. However, the ones with discoloration have that defect on the end of the leaf and working inward. Not so similar as the photo's you linked to.

I don't know what anthracnose is but "googled" it. Our Spring was not a wet type spring. However, leaf production on my tree and the size of the leaves seem "fewer and smaller"
Also many leaves had "holes" in them. I couldn't find any insects and asked the owner of the nursery who planted my trees. (I have a Linden which is doing ok, however the first Linden was planted too deep and died) Anyway the owner said not to worry--feed the tree He said often Red Oaks struggle with 2nd year transplantation ( his explanation sounds a little like bull#### to me)

 

[Raintree]

Oak anthracnose disease most commonly affects foliage in lower branches where there is high humidity. From here it moves up to infect the other leaves.

 

[ddhlakebound]

My young red oak tree leaves are very dry and falling off. The tree was planted by a landscaper 2 years ago. Last year things looked fine--this year not so much. He suggested I feed the tree to boost leaf production, which I have been doing. Large feedings x 3weeks (Miraclegrow) 10 gallons, two scoops per gallon. Also I water the tree 3 x per week. Our summer in Ohio has been very hot and dry.
Any help?

Am I reading this correctly? Is it written correctly?

Three feedings over three weeks, with 20 scoops of miracle grow in each feeding?

If that's correct, I'd say you toasted it, and it's gone.

 

[thebauer]

Am I reading this correctly? Is it written correctly?

Three feedings over three weeks, with 20 scoops of miracle grow in each feeding?

If that's correct, I'd say you toasted it, and it's gone.

Feedings were 3 weeks apart, not 3 times per week.

The leaf production this spring was very sparse and the leaves very small. The largest were 50% of normal size red oak. Just guessing but probably 50% of leaf production never occured. The owner of the Nursery suggested a "boost" feeding. This was the
feeding previous mentioned. Prior to that I used 4-6 gallons of water with 1 scoop per gallon, feedings were about every 10 days.

The last feeding I made was about 5 days ago. This was the second of the "big" boost
feedings.

I keep missing the owner of the nursery but left him some leaves to look at. The most recent fallen leafs have an almost "silver shinning" coating on them.

 

[Raintree]

Did you get hit with a late spring hard frost?

 

[ddhlakebound]

Feedings were 3 weeks apart, not 3 times per week.

The leaf production this spring was very sparse and the leaves very small. The largest were 50% of normal size red oak. Just guessing but probably 50% of leaf production never occured. The owner of the Nursery suggested a "boost" feeding. This was the
feeding previous mentioned. Prior to that I used 4-6 gallons of water with 1 scoop per gallon, feedings were about every 10 days.

The last feeding I made was about 5 days ago. This was the second of the "big" boost
feedings.

I keep missing the owner of the nursery but left him some leaves to look at. The most recent fallen leafs have an almost "silver shinning" coating on them.

So it's had twenty scoops twice, and 5ish scoops how many times before and in between?

What is the formulation of the miracle gro you used and the mixing directions from the packaging?

Unless it was very, very light, my money is on killed by fertilizer burn.

 

[ATH]

...The tree is 20 feet +- and 6 inch diameter.......The root ball was probably 3 foot diameter (but you corrected to 4').

Any chance of this tree recovering? (you do have a crystal ball -- right?)

Ding, Ding, Ding...we may have the issue. ANLA standards (see page 16) say that a 6" diameter tree should have minimum rootball of 60".

There is a chance of recovery, but it is a long road.

I can't help but think that the nursery is just giving you a bunch of holes to jump through so they can say it was your fault. I'd confirm that rootball size and push back on that if it was under ANLA standards.

 

[ATH]

PS: I don't disgree with the fertilzer burn comments...too few roots would only make that worse.

 

[redheadwoodshed]

I did as you suggested. No evidence of "voles". However, they are present in other areas of my yard but not this time of year. I think my Westies chase em away. We call these "moles" so what is the difference.

Anyway, I will do as you suggest. My gut tells me a combination of drought stress and over feeding resulted in the present condition.

thanks again for your advice.

Voles are more like mice.They will travel in mole runs, but they are a differant critter.Still, don't spray the trunk, that does stress a tree, just let the water soak in around the roots.
I did not mean to suggest overfeeding, I just think it's best not to fertilize when a tree is stressed like you describe.It sounded like root damage at first and may be true the root ball wasn't big enough to begin with.
If you keep it watered, it may pull through.Best of luck.

 

[thebauer]

Did you get hit with a late spring hard frost?

Not that I can remember. However, we did have a freezing rain. But other trees nearby are fine.